"I see," Ray responded thoughtfully, looking over his new animal. "I think I'll name him Frostbite." He tore his gaze away to regard the farmer. "What I gave you covers the expenses, right? The saddle, reins, and a brush perhaps?" (Should I just have Dani randomly appear and make Dom jealous? ;P)

(Sorry, I'm on mobile!) "Great," he allowed himself a brief smile and went inside the stall, patting Frostbite as he circled around him. They both seemed equally calm around each other. Ray picked up a brush and began grooming him. Frostbite was already gorgeous, he just wanted to get the feel of grooming him. "That's a beautiful horse," someone said out of his vision, although hee had sensed her a while before. Still, he turned his head to the side to see a girl of about seventeen years leaning against the side of the stall. "I know," Ray said, already taking pride in his horse as he returned to brushing him. "Well...I'm Dani," the girl said when he seemed not to continue on the conversation. "Ray," he said shortly with his back to her. "What's this big guy's name?" she asked. "Frostbite." "That's a cool name." By the way she was humorously wiggling her eyebrows he got that it was a pun and he was supposed to laugh. All he could do though was manage to smirk at her childish antics. "Ha ha," he said. "You think you're pretty funny, don't you?" "A little," she giggled. "You're the one who laughed." He chuckled softly at her while shaking his head. Girls of this century are weird, he thought. Weird, yet funny. (Cue Dom!)

Dom had been staring at the goats for what seemed like forever. In the time that she was waiting for Ray, she already noted all the different ways she could sneak into this goat pen and snatch a little appetizer for herself. But, that would only be if I absolutely needed to eat a goat, which doesn't come often in this town, she nearly smirked to herself, amused at her own thinking.

Finally, growing bored of the same old scenery, she decided to move back over towards the stables when a light giggle filtered through the air. She had grown a curiosity as to who that was, so she poked her head around the corner of the stable door to see what Ray was up to. A young girl with dark red-tinted hair was talking to Ray, and was obviously the one that had laughed earlier.

I don't know if I should go in and talk with them, Dom stood awkwardly in front of the door, conflicted with what she wanted to do and what she should do. She knew that if she went in, the horses might do something erratic, but if she didn't then she didn't know if Ray would get whisked off the farm by this girl, forgetting all about his new found friend.

"Aw, what the heck," she grumbled to herself while she took a bold step into the stables. It was clear there was a predator in the room from the way the horses reacted. All of them moved towards the back of their stalls while some neighed loudly and others tilted their head from side to side in a sign of stress. She tried not to care so much at distressing the animals, and with her trademark emotionless face, she approached Ray and the new girl.

"Looks like you found your new friend," Dom stated, noting how the said animal grew wide eyes at her close proximity.

As soon as he heard her voice Ray momentarily forgot about Dani and he gave Dom his full attention. "Yeah," he replied awkwardly, vaguely aware of how Frostbite tried to back away from them. "Never thought I'd own my own horse one day. Thanks for suggesting it. I'm...happy." He said the last part quietly as his trademark lopsided grin crept along his face. He never thought he could be happy after his death had occured, but it seemed to be happening much more frequently ever since he met Dom.

His comment caused Dom to feel like she was on top of the world. Making him happy seemed to be a newfound goal of hers. Without even thinking of the consequences, Dom flashed her teeth in a large smile, accidentally threatening the horse. It neighed uncomfortably, which reminded her of what exactly she was doing. In a flash, her visage turned to stone, her eyes being the only thing that showed her glee. "I'm happy if you're happy," she stated, trying to distract him from the horse's odd behavior. She gave the girl that stood next to him a pointed look, sensing that this female may act like a typical female, but wasn't at heart. "So, who is this?" Dom questioned shortly.

He smiled at her brief display of emotion, fully absorbed in her and unaware of the horse. When she mentioned the girl he'd met he glanced at her. She looked slightly uncomfortable but tried her best to smile at Dom. "I'm Dani," she said before Ray could get a word in. "We just met and were talking about the horse. And you are?" She stuck her hand out to shake.

"I'm Dom. We just met at the mall and I gave him the motivation to get a horse," she mentioned, one-upping her in the process of taking the girl's hand in hers and shaking it lightly. Dom gave her one more look over before returning her attention to Ray, finding that she wasn't quite interested in Dani.

"So what's the horse's name?" she questioned as she tried to avoid looking at it directly so it wouldn't get even more stressed.

(Dani's been one-upped, alright. :P Ray's a chick-magnet and he doesn't even realize it. X3) "Frostbite. What you said about my hair when we first met inspired me," he remarked with an embarrassed shrug. "He looks like he belongs in snowy mountains. I'd name him Snowflake, but since he's male 'Frostbite' sounds more masculine."

"His coat would blend in well with the snow. I don't even think I would be able to see him out there if I was hunting," she stated, imagining herself crouched low and using her wet black nose to smell the horse instead of using her advanced eyesight. She gave the horse a hungry stare for just a second before she could alarm it. "Well let's get a saddle on him and try him out for a spin..."

Immediately his eyes lit up at the thought of riding him. "Don't have to tell me twice," he grinned and strapped the saddle on the back of the still shaken up Frostbite. "Looks like a nice ride would be good for him. He seems tense suddenly." He slowly began to lead him outside and Dani followed him, which Ray was indifferent about. "Have you ever rode one before?" Dani asked. "Once or twice," he said vaguely as he seemed lost in thought. "Reckon I know the ropes and remember most of everything."

Dom begrudgingly followed Dani, not sure if she enjoyed the new girl tagging along with them. She wasn't sure of what to say so she stayed silent through their conversation, and stayed far back from the back of the horse as to not frighten it any more than she already had.

Ray looked over his shoulder and saw how Dom was keeping her distance. "You okay?" he asked in a concerned tone. "I'm sorry if you don't like being around the horses. If staying here is too much to ask then I won't make you if you don't want to," he concluded moving his gaze straight ahead so he wouldn't be looking at her. He was really hoping this wouldn't be the case.

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine. It's the horses you should be worried about," she vaguely warned. "Besides, I want to see you ride your new horse." Dom kept in mind that she needed to act more normal that so she wouldn't bring attention to herself.

"Alright then," ray nodded, deciding not to press the matter as he continued leading Frostbite onto the track. He stopped and rubbed his muzzle soothingly, determining that he was now calm enough to ride.

So, he climbed on and assumed the riding position, grasping the reigns in his hands. For the next few moments he simply relished in how right it felt to be the owner of his own horse. Atop his mighty back Ray felt like was on top of the world.

Then with a quick toss of the reigns, a firm nudge in Frostbite's side, and a voice that rang throughout the air with a note of excitement to it, he hooted, "Let's go!"

They were off like a rocket, a large cloud of dust left in their wake.

(Ok, let's hope Dom doesn't scare all of these animals to death with what she's going to do next...)

Dom's hair whooshed around her face from the sonic boom of Ray and his new horse, their bodies hardly visible through the dirt filled cloud they created. Her heart beat faster and adrenaline pumped through her veins simply by watching the speed they were going at, and the snow leopard inside of her began clawing at its cage, wanting to match that speed and run along beside them.

It's possible that I might scare the horse enough to knock Ray off of it, she worried inwardly, trying to convince herself not to change. It was inevitable, though, as her teeth began to tingle and claws had already begun forming at her fingernails. Her snow leopard was getting harder and harder to hold back, and in a time like this, it was nearly impossible. Worry began coursing through her veins as her back cracked and bent gruesomely, growing a long tail and reforming itself into a more animal like shape. White fur coated with black leopard spots sprouted all over her skin, and the clothes on her body cleanly ripped off from her new form. In just a few short minutes, Dom had successfully, yet reluctantly, turned into her second form of a snow leopard.

Dom let out a powerful roar meant to warn others that she was not hunting, and that she was a friend. Ray and his horse were out of sight by the time she had completed her transformation, but she knew that the horse would still be able to hear her and hopefully with that it wouldn't be so scared when she popped up beside it.

She broke into a sprint, using her nose to track Ray and the horse, and causing the ground to shake beneath her from the vibrations her giant paws left from lightly pounding onto the ground with each step.

Ray tensed as well as his horse when he heard the roar and felt the ground rumble. Something's not right.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the same object he'd seen when he peeked into Dom's heart, except now he was able to make it out. It was a snow leopard--and a huge one at that--headed straight for him.

Panic bubbled within him, but he suddenly got a read on the creature. Its spirit is familiar... Ray mused. And those dark-rimmed eyes are just like...

(on mobile) Dom crept closer and closer towards Ray and his horse, soon running at their side from a distance. When she was close enough her ears caught onto the questionable name that spilled from Ray's lips, causing her to sound out a roar in reply. She connected her ice blue eyes with his own in a more meanigful answer for a few short moments, before sprinting ahead and challenging the horses stamina.

(me too) Ray stared after her, a smile that was turning into a smirk consuming his features, before giving a jerk to the reigns and a nudge to Frostbite's flank. He couldn't help giving a joyful whoop as they picked up speed and tested the horse's limits. They were going much faster than Ray originally thought he could, giving chase to Dom's surprising form and gaining on her.

Dom was having the time of her life with the wind blowing through her fur and a good friend keeping up beside her. She knew that this horse wouldn't be able to keep up with her if she was running at full speed; what kind of predator would she be if a prey could beat her in a sprint, but where would the fun be if Ray was two-hundred feet behind her in the dust?

It was obvious that Ray's choice of horse was perfect if he was to become a rancher, as it was incredibly strong and fast, but even Dom's pace was beginning to wear down the horse's stamina. Luckily for the animal, and admittedly Dom, the smell of water fowl and lakeside plants invaded Dom's sensitive nose, which let her know that there was a drinking hole near by.

She changed course in that direction, and with their speed, they soon approached a nice sized pond that was a clear water source for roaming cows in the area. Her muscles flexed and helped her stop softly near the shore, her head bending down to lap up some water with her pink tongue.

When they stopped, Ray jumped down with a clear grin on his face. "That was amazing. It's definitely a great way to get a person's blood pumping. What a rush," he concluded excitedly. He then curbed his enthusiasm long enough to blink at Dom's revealed half before chuckling to himself softly. "Can't believe I didn't see this coming."

"I'm good at hiding this part of me," an inhuman growl resounded throughout the air. It was uncommon for Weres to be able to speak when they were in their animal form, but because Dom had Wizard blood running in her veins, it had been easier to learn human English tongue when she was in her animal form. There was still a struggle for her to get the correct words out at times when she did speak, though. It was hard for her to keep the natural Snow Lion sounds in the background, so it caused her voice to carry an animalistic accent.

Dom stood on her four legs from her seat at the side of the pond and stalked over towards Ray with her ears pointed up on her head and her long tail sashaying back and forth. When her eye level reached his waist at two feet away, she stopped and stared into his sapphire eyes with her own. "This is the only secret I have, and you're one of the lucky ones that knows," she informed, her jaw unhinged to allow the words pass through her throat.

(Not sure the talking is cool enough. Just imagine a growl mixed with the words I guess. I just figured that her suddenly using mind powers to talk with no explanation on how she gained that power would be stupid :P)

"Well, it hasn't happened yet, but if you ever find some livestock missing on your future farm there could be a good chance that it's me," Dom predicted, knowing that she wouldn't be able to control her hungry urges if she was near a farm for too long. "But your friend has no reason to worry," at this she looked over towards the white horse that was drinking from the pond.

"It's fine if you have your secrets, though. I just don't have any because I haven't had a cause to hide anything other than this. I've killed before, but never people. I have severely injured humans in this form as well, but that was in self defense."

"Got it," he looked off into the distance, frowning. "And here I was thinking you might have more secrets than I did. Now I just might have to match that--no secrets at all." He paced back and forth as he thought, unbeknownst to himself, stressing his self-conflict.